[WIP] Battle portrait

[32]

I'm working with a friend on a small game project. I'll be drawing backgrounds and upper body portraits for a bunch of enemies and NPC's and such.



Very wip still but I think It's ready for some critique. I still need to work out some kinks with the anatomy blend, particularly on the left side.

Also I wonder if anyone could point me in the direction of games with nice background art to study.

[buddy90]

Hm, well, maybe you should make his nose more prominent, since his eyes are so huge, it makes the rest of his "face" seem tiny. I love the dark shadow you used under the armpit, but it makes his stomach look flat. Maybe you should use that dark shadow to chisel out his male physique some more.

[32]

Good call on the nose.

Cleaned up some more, almost have everything ready to polish, mostly need to work on the hand and sword. Abdomen is getting there.

[Chris2balls]

Ah! I've been looking forward to more of your work!

I had some issues with the anatomy and the colour palette, I hope it gives you some ideas.

[32]

Oh wow, thanks, I'll have a closer look in the morning and adjust accordingly, colours were place holder and I've just changed them. You've edited most of the areas I had problems with, hopefully I can get the anatomy sorted tomorrow and work on prettying it up.

[Jad]

WHAT NO!! the colors were so goood!11 Do reconsider, I urge you!

[32]

If this were a stand alone piece I would definitely stick with the old colours but this particular monster is gonna be in a sewer, I will have to talk to my friend about what mood we want for the whole area but by default I was thinking creepy brown stone sewers but mysterious moonlight sewer might work. In any case palette swaps are likely so both will probably turn up at some point. I've stuck with the old one while I work on it though. This palette is very grey and I don't think it pops, I cant seem to get enough saturation or contrast in it without it getting a bit garish.



Didn't have time to clean everything up but managed to fix up the anatomy some. Still not happy with the whole ribcage/ cheekbone area on the left side. Huge thanks to Chris 

[EvilEye]

Would really help if you could clean up that machete and make it curve slightly up instead of bend down in the middle. The fingers on the hand holding the machete are a really long too. Those are the 2 things that bug me the most.

[NaCl]

I too like the original colors, except for the yellow highlight. Nether palette makes me think creepy sewer creature though. Saturated greens and some brown sounds better, if not a little cliche.

[Magides]

I think it would look cool if the hands were a little bit more bony and not so sausage-like.

[Sleepless]

^ Agreed, shade the left arm too. I love this peice. WOW 

[32]

I haven't had any time to do this over the part week, managed a bit of time tonight to finish constructing everything properly. I've fixed the hands more or less and cleaned up the machete some (noticing the blade is coming off at the wrong angle). Had a try at a colour scheme like NaCl suggested also, still undecided about the atmosphere, for now I think I will just leave it alone.



When I clean this up proper I will attempt to make him look as fat-less as possible, making the fingers thinner will require AA which I haven't started yet.

Reference for machete

[buddy90]

Oooh, I love the new colors. The machete looks like it's dull, like it couldn't really cut anything, like if it was a rubber toy or something. It's subtle, but maybe you could try to make the curve of the blade more severe?

[Olothontor]

I think it would look cool if the hands were a little bit more bony and not so sausage-like.

I'm inclined to agree with this. The hands are a little incongruous with the body currently, since the rest of the anatomy is very severely cut and bony. Even the simple addition of knuckles would remedy the hands nicely.

[Demon11777]

I definitely like the original colors way better. Anyone else getting a Enki feeling? w/o helm

[McClaneGames]

Here's an edit to make the blade seem less dull.  I also removed one color (the gray).

[Organ_House]

It could just be me, but the fingers on the right and left hand don't seem to share the same thickness.

[Katzeus]

Yeah, I think McClaine's blade edit makes the blade pop a little bit.  Comparing it to the old one makes it look less like a big grey tongue depressor.

[32]

I appreciate the thoughts guys but there seems to be a lot of focus on the areas I've clearly not cleaned up yet. More focus on shapes and form and the like would be nice, I am having some trouble with the hands, particularly the wrists.

The fingers are bigger due to the perspective, they may be a little too big though.

No updates at this point sadly, hopefully I will have some free time on the weekend.